Casa de Mera, Guayaquil, Ecuador (8/9, 11:15 p.m.)

( transcribed entry from 08/09/08, 11:15 p.m. )

Becca C, Bonnie B and the Mera family at the beach.

Beach day was pretty fun– the best day we’ve had. There was even some sun, a big improvement over last year. I waded a lot but didn’t swim (it was still pretty cold). Treated my family to ice cream and boat rides and lunch, where once again I was amazed at how much the members of my family could eat when the food before them was limitless. I finished half my lunch. Andres ate enough for about five people.

As with last year, lunch was our only meal of the day– only snacks for breakfast and dinner, so I’m quite hungry.

This evening, we talked late into the night, Andres, Eddy, Carlos (not my host brother, but Eddy’s cousin by the same name), Diego and I, telling jokes in Spanish. Now that takes a pretty good command of a language, to tell and understand jokes. Admittedly, it was like telling jokes to a child, because they often had to explain the punch line four or five times for me or define a couple of words before I’d laugh, but we did it. And I held my own. I actually did ‘Who’s on First?’ in Spanish; Quíen on first, Qué on second, and Yo No Sé on third… And their jokes were hilarious, told with great expression or perfect deadpan, when appropriate. I feel like I’ve truly arrived, both as a member of the family and as a person who can communicate in Spanish.